A Second Chance
by Silver Sentinel
Summary: A Oneshot. My alternate ending to Firewing. Shade’s alive but he doesn’t know how, but only one person could tell him why.


Griffin opened his eyes and jolted up to look at his surroundings. He found himself in the grass underneath a tree. He looked off in the distance and saw Tree Haven. Just then he remembered, "Luna!" he yelled.

"I'm here," he heard her say. He looked behind himself and found her, and sighed in relief. He then looked around again, "Dad!" No answer. "Dad!" he kept yelling.

"Over…here," they heard a voice said weakly.

Griffin and Luna rushed over to where the sound came from. Once they cleared some more grass they found Shade, "Dad!" Griffin yelled as he went over to him. He saw the condition he was in. There was some blood coming from his noise, his wings were bent in the wrong way, and he wasn't moving. "Dad are you all right!" he said in a concern voice.

Shade started to breath heavily, "I…can't…move." He then tried to move but cried out in pain.

"Don't move you could make it worse!" Luna said.

Shade's eyes closed as he tried to endure the pain. "Griffin…go get…help" Griffin just nodded as he took flight and headed straight for Tree Haven.

He reached the knothole as he entered and searched for his mother. He soon saw her and flew over to her, "Mom!"

Marina looked and saw her son flying towards her, "Griffin!" she hugged him once he was close enough. "Thank Nocturna you're safe."

As much as Griffin wanted to stay like this he needed to get his father help. "Mom dad needs help."

Her face then changed, "what happened?"

"He's hurt and needs some help!"

"Ok I'll get some others to help." She then started to gather some others and they followed Griffin to where Shade was.

Some time later Shade laid on a bed of leaves in Tree Haven's medical wing, with his mate, mother and son next to him. It took some time but the others managed to get him back to Tree Haven without causing any further damage to him. Right now his body was covered with leaves and berries to help with any blood or broken bones. "Shade what happened to you?" His mother asked.

"A long story," he said still breathing heavily. "One that I can't go into that right now."

"That doesn't matter right now, I'm just glad that you two are safe," Marina said hugging them both.

Ariel then spoke, "Shade, how are you feeling right now?"

"There's still pain but not that much."

She nodded as she spoke again, "well don't worry, you'll get better soon. Marina, Griffin come lets leave him to rest."

They started to leave but Shade spoke, "Griffin, please stay for a sec."

Griffin turned back to his father and once his mother and grandma left he spoke, "dad how are you alive…didn't you give your life to me and Luna?"

"I have no clue. Must be a miracle."

Griffin then hugged his father, "dad I'm glad you're alive."

Shade smiled at his son, "I would hug you back but my wings still hurt."

Griffin smiled at that last comment as he saw his dad yawn, "looks like the sleeping berries are taking affect."

"I can…feel it…" Shades eyes started to get heavier and kept closing them until he fell asleep.

Shade opened his eyes and darkness was all around him. He then felt that all his injuries were gone. He stood up and looked around, trying to find a light. He let loose a barrage of echoes but they all bounced back at him. He started to panic as he found out that there was no way out for him. _"Shade Silverwing I presume,"_ he heard a voice say.

Shade lifted his head to look all around, but found no one. "W…who's there!" he said in a panicked voice.

_"Don't be afraid,"_ it said again.

For some reason, after hearing the voice again, Shade started to relax. He didn't know why but the voice reminded him of how his mother used to talk to him when he was younger, sweet, and caring. "Who are you?" he asked.

_"I thought you would have known. I'm the one who you all pray to, and the mother of all bats."_

It then dawn on him, "N..Nocturna?

_"Yes."_

"bu..but how am I hearing you? And how are my injuries healed?"

_"I temporary pulled you from your world to talk, and as for your injuries it's only temporary."_

Shade just stayed silent for a bit but spoke, "I thought you were dead."

_"Only my body was destroyed, but my spirit still lives on."_

Shade remembered something then asked, "How am I alive?"

He could hear a soft laugh coming from her, _"oh Shade I've been watching you and your actions. You've done a lot of good deeds and even fulfilled my promise. And I especially saw your last act of sacrifice. Your act of selflessness, for giving your life to your son and his friend, enabled me to grant you life. It is rare of me to do that for anyone, but for…you're much more special then anyone I've ever seen."_

For some reason, after hearing all that, Shade had tears in his eyes. "Thank you…so much," he said in a low voice while looking down. But then his head shot up, "but what about-"

_"Oh don't worry,"_ she interrupted. _"As long as my spirit lives, none of the Zotz minions can never make it to the surface."_

It took a while for Shade to absorb what he heard and spoke again, "So where does this leave me?"

She stayed silent for a bit, _"just live…be with your mate and son, and one day your grandchildren. This will be the last and only time you'll hear me. Goodbye, and it was an honor to meet you, Shade Silverwing."_

"Wait!" Shade said as he heard Nocturna's voice fade away. Then his vision started to go white.

"Shade…wake up," he heard a familiar voice say.

His vision started to clear up as he gazed upon Marina. "Hey there."

"Hey…it's good to see you awake."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"A whole day. I think it helped because all your injuries are healing a lot faster."

Shade then started to move his wings. Some pain coursed through them but it wasn't as intense as it was the other day. He found that he was able to sit up. "I feel a lot better."

Marina smiled as she held a leaf up to him, which had some water in it, "here you must be thirsty."

"Thank you, " Shade said accepting the water. He drank it down, feeling the cool substance flowing down his dry throat. Once finished he made a satisfying sigh, "I needed that."

She smiled but then had a look of sadness, "Griffin told me what you did…for him and Luna."

"Oh," he said looking down. "I knew it was a risk but…it was the only way."

Marina wrapped her wings around him as she nuzzled him, "I don't know how, but I'm glad you're still here. I don't know what I would do if I lost anyone of you two."

Shade ended up returning the embrace, "I have a lot to tell you."

"Maybe later," she said. They both then laid back down and fell asleep in each other's embrace.

A couple of days later Shade was well enough to fly, but not for that long. He had to take some brakes once in a while, but still he was getting his strength back slowly. Ariel saw her son's trouble and she let him stay at Tree Haven until it was time for them to migrate. Shade was excited at the news, since it meant he got to spend more time with his son, and mate. The newborns were even more excited with having the hero of the colony staying with them. Even though they heard Shade's stories over and over again, they enjoyed hearing it from the hero himself.

Shade was currently flying through the forest, hunting, until he came to a stop and roosted on a branch. It felt so good to fly again. But the best relief of all was to get away from the newborns that kept pestering him with questions from his past. He didn't mind it so much but he needed some breath after all. As he stared out into the forest he started twisting his head until a satisfying 'pop' was heard. _'That feels better' _he thought. He heard something and turned around. He smiled as he saw Griffin flying towards him. He then roosted right next to his father, "hey dad, how are you doing?"

"Much better now that I can fly again, how are things with you?"

Griffin just smiled, "a lot of the others have been talking to me more since my little adventure. We're both the talk of the colony now."

Shade ruffled his son's hair, "you'll get used to it. It happened with me back then."

"I know, but I'm glad you're staying with us."

"I'm glad also, I get to spend more time with you and your mother." He smiled, "and you don't know how great it feels."

Griffin smiled at the comment but then frowned. Even though Shade got a second chance at life he still felt bad for making him give up his life. "Dad…"

Shade looked at him and saw his son's sadness, "Griffin what's wrong?"

He was silent for a bit, "dad…I'm so sorry for…what happened…I-"

Shade silenced him by wrapping he wings around him and spoke in a low, calming voice, "you have nothing to be sorry for. You had no idea."

Griffin had tears in his eye, "but I still feel responsible for it."

"Don't be, put it behind you. Just remember that I'm here now, and nothing will change that."

Griffin smiled after hearing that, "thanks dad."

Shade smiled also, "No problem, now come on lets go hunt before we head back." Griffin couldn't agree more as they both took flight.

Later on Shade was roosting with his family, in Tree Haven. Marina to his left and Griffin to his right. It felt really good to be with his family like this. Just before they all fell asleep Shade wrapped his wings around both of them and pulled them close. Marina was caught off guard by that but smiled, "what's that for?"

"Oh nothing…I just want you two close to me, that's all."

Nothing else was said as they all fell asleep together, all wrapped in Shade's embrace. _'Thank you Nocturna…thank you so much…for this second chance. Thank your giving me back my life…and most of all, my family.' _

**_A/N: Hope you like. it's been a while since i've wrote Silverwing Stories, so i might get some facts wrong. I really liked doing this. i didn't really like Shade dying at the end of Firewing so i wrote my own ending to it. Please review._**


End file.
